Players do find time to have an offseason

Feb. 13, 2013
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Luke Donald of England acknowledges the cheers after holing a birdie putt on the par-5 18th hole during the second round of the 2012 DP World Tour Championship on Friday in Dubai. / David Cannon, Getty Images

by USA TODAY

by USA TODAY

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Graeme McDowell tried not to watch golf on TV the last few months to avoid the temptation to play. Adam Scott has been so far removed from the game that he didn't learn about Phil Mickelson's cruel lipout for a 59 until he finished his pro-am round Wednesday at Riviera.

"Was it a big lipout? Oh, that stinks," Scott said.

It's not that news travels slowly Down Under. But when the 32-year-old Australian gets away from golf, he really gets away. Asked if he had any idea what's gone on over the last six weeks of the PGA Tour season, Scott mentioned Brandt Snedeker winning at Pebble Beach after being runner-up in consecutive weeks.

"I know Brandt is playing really good," he said. "I was in America last weekend."

As much as golf is played around the clock and around the world, there's still time for a long winter's nap. The offseason is as long as players want it to be.

McDowell, Scott and Luke Donald are proof of that.

They are playing together the opening two rounds of the Northern Trust Open, which is only fitting. They are the only three players from the top 20 in the world who have yet to play anywhere in the world this year.

Donald last played in Dubai last November. McDowell hasn't played since winning the World Challenge up the road at Sherwood the week after Thanksgiving. Scott's most recent tournament was the second weekend of December at the Australian Open.

It's a formula that works for Donald.

Two years ago, he returned from a long break, shot 79 in the second round at Riviera to miss the cut, and then won a week later in the Match Play Championship, the first step toward going to No. 1 in the world.

"It's been a long year, and it's hard to find breaks and it's hard to find time where you can actually work on your swing to try and make some improvements with your game," Donald said. "So I took a decent amount of time off, but I feel rested, ready to go."

McDowell learned the hard day. Coming off his dream season in 2010 - a U.S. Open title at Pebble Beach, the clinching point for Europe in the Ryder Cup, coming from four shots behind to beat Tiger Woods at Sherwood - he started up again in Hawaii and never felt like he had time to recharge.

He took 10 weeks off this year, the longest break since he can remember. It was long enough to joke about the white legs of his English caddie, Ken Comboy.

And he has no regrets.

"You have to be disciplined enough to do it," McDowell said as he walked down the first fairway on a gorgeous day off Sunset Boulevard. "I resisted the temptation to turn the TV on the last month to see guys at Kapalua, to see guys at Torrey Pines, to see guys at Phoenix. It's hard especially for the guys playing two tours. You play right up into December and then you've got to tee it up in the Middle East. If you play the European Tour, there is no offseason."

McDowell said he has been bombarded with tweets from his followers in recent weeks, asking why he wasn't at Abu Dhabi or any of the West Coast events on the PGA Tour.

"It's hard to turn down great purses, great sponsors, great courses," he said. "But you've got to pick and choose if you want career longevity."

This is one course he didn't want to miss, and that's true for so many others.

Riviera is one of the classic courses on the PGA Tour, and the field is so deep that three players who finished in the top 10 last week at Pebble Beach did not get into the Northern Trust because there wasn't any room for them.

It is the strongest field on the PGA Tour this year, with 16 of the top 25 players from the world ranking.

"This is why a lot of guys fly a long way to get here," Ernie Els said.

Fred Couples is playing for the 31st time, simply because he loves Riviera and it's one of the courses where he still feels he can win. Couples won this tournament twice.

Scott won at Riviera, even though it didn't count. The tournament was hit so hard by rain in 2005 that it took until Monday before 36 holes could be completed, and he won in a playoff. Because it was 36 holes, all he got was the money - not an official win.

Weather shouldn't be an issue this week, with sunshine in the forecast through Sunday.

Scott's swing looked as sweet as ever on the range and in his pro-am round, and there's a reason for that. While he hasn't played competitively since the Australian Open in Sydney, he has been playing plenty of golf.

"Having this break has been really good for me," Scott said. "I've played a lot of golf, actually. I'm loving golf. A couple of years ago, my frustration level was so high I could have gone six weeks without playing. I like playing now, playing with my mom and dad, and I've played a lot."

Most of his golf was played in Queensland while he was home, and it included a trip with his parents to Barnbougle in Tasmania. He is anything but rusty, though the next few days will give him a gauge on tournament golf.

This break was not an accident. Scott plans to play four of the next five weeks, only missing the Honda Classic. His aim, like other players, is to be fresh in the summer.

"There isn't a long offseason is you don't want there to be one," Scott said. "I've played plenty of golf over the last 10 or 12 years as a pro, and I'm going to play heaps more. Missing a few events is not going to hurt me. My main focus is to be prepared, being fresh and ready during the major season. If you rush out and play a bunch early, when June comes around, you're fatigued early. And that's the biggest golf there is."

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